There are never enough hours in the day for cattle producers. From sunup to sundown, cattlemen work to achieve maximum productivity and profit from their herds. A full schedule and being in a hurry are also often key reasons many producers vaccinate cattle as quickly as possible - and, as a result, might fail to get the most out of their vaccine investment.

"Everybody is always trying to do more in a set period of time than is possible," explains Bill Epperson, D.V.M., Extension Veterinarian at South Dakota State University. "Producers have in their mind how long it should take to work cattle, including administering vaccinations, but they fail to consider cattle may balk or not work right. Then producers try to make up for lost time."

Dr. Epperson encourages producers to administer the vaccine according to Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) guidelines during processing, even if pressed for time. He reminds producers to never administer injections into the hindquarters. Intramuscular (IM) and subcutaneous (SubQ) injections must be administered in front of the shoulder, preferably in the tightened injection site zone -- a hand's width in front of the industry's previous zone.

Producers are also advised to slow down and use the proper tenting method when administering injections SubQ. Plus they should take the time to work cattle calmly.

"We have to remember that we're dealing with a powerful product in the animal," Dr. Epperson says. "Vaccines are going to work better in a nonstressed animal than in a stressed one. If you don't take the time to properly administer the vaccine into a nonstressed animal, it doesn't matter how good the vaccine is."

Ron Torell, cattle producer and Area Livestock Specialist at the University of Nevada, Reno, is another advocate on administering injections "in the zone" and says producers may need to make chute modifications to reach the neck area easily.

"Neck shots are tough to give," Torell explains. "So you may need to modify the chute so the animal's neck is exposed behind the chute."

Torell says taking time to give a vaccination correctly will help both the animal and the vaccine respond as successfully as possible.

"I have cattle, and we processed them yesterday," he says. "We went from daylight to dusk. Yeah, we were in a hurry and probably should have slowed down even more. If you'll slow down, you'll lower the stress on the cattle. Anything you can do to lower the stress level of the cattle, you're going to help the animal's system respond better to the vaccines."

Michael Moore, D.V.M., Novartis Animal Vaccines, Inc., calls vaccines "an investment." For maximum return on a vaccine investment, Dr. Moore says two important steps are taking the time to follow all label directions and to administer vaccines correctly.

"Vaccines help animals fight off some of the most threatening disease challenges," Dr. Moore says. "And, administering that vaccine correctly gives it the best chance to protect your animals, and will give maximum return on your vaccine investment."

Ron Gill, Ph.D., Professor and Extension Livestock Specialist for the Texas Cooperative Extension Service, reminds producers that achieving maximum efficacy requires attention to details. Dr. Gill says that correct handling, storage and administration of vaccines all play important roles in protecting cattle from disease. The livestock specialist adds that, most often, a mindset change is necessary for producers to take extra time to administer vaccines.

"Most everyone's in a hurry to get it done and get on to something different," Dr. Gill says. "It just takes someone who's committed to getting it done and done right."` ©